Wali Songo: the Nine Walis

The nine walis were Sufi teachers who spread Islam and
did all variety of powerful and unusual acts across Java.
The histories of these men are not always clear. In fact,
if you try to count all of them, you will end up with more
than nine. Some sources say that there was more than one
group of nine. The most probable explanation is that there
was a loose council of nine religious leaders, and that
as older members retired or passed away, new members were
brought into this council.

Symbolically, for later rulers on Java, the wali songo
provided a link between the rulers of Majapahit or earlier
kingdoms, and the rulers of Mataram, and eventually the
Sultans of Yogya and Surakarta. They were both links in
the dynastic family trees and cultural links, as they
adapted the old arts and traditions to the new Islamic
reality.

In spite of the confusion, and some of the
legends told about them, these were real men, and some of
them such as Gunungjati or Kalijogo were important figures
who helped create the Java--and the Indonesia--that we
know today.

Here is an incomplete (or maybe too complete!)
list of the Wali Songo. Most of them did their work in the late 1400s
to mid-1500s C.E.:

Sunan Gunungjati worked at Demak and Banten,
and was the founder of Cirebon. Many stories say that he was originally
from Pasai in Aceh, others say that he was from Pajajaran in West Java.
He married the sister of Sultan Trenggono of Demak, and led military
expeditions for Demak against Banten (which was still Hindu at that
time). As "Fatahillah" he defeated the Portuguese when they tried
to take Sunda Kelapa (now Jakarta) in 1527.

Some stories have Sunan Gunungjati active around
the 1470s and 1480s, under the name "Hidayatullah", other stories
have him active around the 1520s, and associate him with the name
"Fatahillah". In the 1480s he would have been the grandson of the
king of Pajajaran; in the late 1520s he would have fought the Portuguese
near what is today Jakarta. The problem is that some stories say
that he passed away in 1568, by which time he would have been as
old as 120 years! Some scholars think that there may have been
more than one Gunungjati.

Sunan Kudus, (or Ja'far Shadiq), founder of Kudus,
who is said to have originated the wayang golek, and who founded
the masjid at Kudus using (it is said) the doors from the palace
of Majapahit. Took the place of his father, Sunan Ngudung. He
passed away in 1550.

Sunan Kudus has also been called by the name
Ja'far Shadiq, or Ja'far as-Sadiq, which was also the name of a
famous religious figure in Iran, the 6th of the 12th Imams in
Shi'ah Islam. Interestingly, in the city of Kudus today,
there is an event called Buka Luwur, when the citizens change
the curtains around the tomb of Sunan Kudus, among other things.
This event is held on the 10th of Muharram of the Islamic calendar
--the same day that Shi'ah Muslims remember the martyrdom of
Husayn, a major date in the calendar for them. Perhaps these
are reminders of the time when travelers from Iran and India
made frequent trips to the north coast of Java, and had a lasting
influence on the culture there.

Sunan Giri, (or Raden Paku), studied at
Melaka, founded Islamic schools at Gresik, foretold the rise
of Mataram, and spread Islam to Lombok, Sulawesi, and Maluku.
He was a proponent of orthodox Islam, and disapproved of
innovation (much like "modernist" Islamic scholars of the 1800s
and 1900s). A traditional story says that he was the son of
a Hindu princess of Balambangan and Maulana Ishaq of Melaka,
who had gone to Balambangan as a missionary. The princess
was forced to abandon him
in a crisis and set him adrift on the ocean in a small boat,
from which he was rescued by sailors. He was later a student
of Sunan Ampel, and married the daughter of Sunan Ampel.

Sunan Giri II (or Sunan Delem)

Pangeran Sarif worked under Sunan Giri, and worked to
convert the people of Madura.

Sunan Prapen

Sunan Kalijogo, (also Raden Sahid),
was active at Demak, student of Sunan Bonang,
advisor to Senopati, father to Sunan Muria. He revived the
Garebeg procession, added
Islamic stories to the wayang kulit repertory, and promoted the
use of traditional rituals in a new Islamic context. The IAIN
(Islamic Institute) in Yogyakarta today is named after him.
At times Sunan Kalijogo has been called a proponent of innovation
("innovation" in orthodox Islam is generally considered not proper).

Stories of Kalijogo also follow confused chrnologies.
Some have him participating in the construction of the Masjid at Demak
in the 1470s; others have him active in the mid-1500s.

Sunan Bonang, son of Sunan Ampel, wrote a popular book on
theology and good behavior for Muslims. As a young man he studied
with Sunan Giri in Melaka. He helped build the great masjid at
Demak. A story says that he converted the later Sunan Kalijogo
to Islam. He is buried at Tuban.

Sunan Muria, (or Raden Umar Said), son of Kalijogo,
after whom Mount Muria is named, and who used gamelan and theatre
to help promote his missionary activity. He preferred to work with
common people and in isolated villages.

Sunan Maulana Malik Ibrahim (also Syeikh Maghribi)
was an Arab who arrived in Java in 1404 and worked at Gresik and Leran
until his death in 1419.
He founded the first Islamic school or pesantren on Java. Cousin of Sunan Ampel.
His work was carried out before the time period normally associated
with the wali songo, making him a kind of pioneer for missionary
activity on Java.

Sunan Ampel (also Raden Rakhmat) who did his work in
Surabaya, and spread Islam in East Java. Sunan Ampel was the original
leader of the walisongo. He was a nephew of the King of
Majapahit, and a cousin to Raden Patah, first Sultan of Demak.
He was actually born in Champa, an Islamic kingdom located where
the southern part of Vietnam is today. Sunan Bonang and Sunan Drajad
were both his sons. Sunan Giri lived with him alongside his sons
as a young man.

Sunan Drajad was a son of Sunan Ampel. He built the masjid at
Paciran (north of Surabaya) in 1502, and is known for promoting
social and charitable works. He also promoted the use of the gamelan
orchestra.

Sunan Sendang worked at Paciran until 1585.

Sunan Ngudung (or Pengulu Rahmatullah) who did his
work in Matahun, and died in battle against the Hindu remnants of
Majapahit in 1513. He was the father of Sunan Kudus.

Raden Hamzah (or Sunan Lamongan) who did his work in Lamongan.

Maulana Ibrahim Asmoro was the father of Sunan Ampel. He is buried
at Palang near Tuban. He was married to a princess of Champa, in what is
now Vietnam, and may have originally been from Central Asia.

Sunan Bayat who did his work around Tembayat, near Yogya. He
was a student of Sunan Kalijogo.

Sunan Bejagung who did his work near Tuban.

Syekh Sitti Jenar (also Syekh Lemah Abang)
who was sentenced to death for his strong religious convictions, which
were considered by some to be heretical.

Raden Patah, founder of Demak, is sometimes included in
the list. Raden Patah was the son of Kertanegara by a Chinese princess,
and was brought up by Aria Damar, his half-brother,
who had been sent to oversee Palembang with the title of Adipati,
and was said to be a Muslim in secret. He consulted closely with
Sunan Ampel before continuing on to found the city and power of
Demak. Raden Patah is a "link" between
the line of the old Javanese kings (such as Airlangga or Hayam Wuruk),
the later Sultans of Mataram (such as Agung), and the present-day
Sultan of Yogya and Susuhunan of Surakarta.

(Sunan Kuning came much later, was named Susuhunan of
Mataram by rebels in 1742, is remembered in Semarang).

Many stories of the Wali Songo are recorded in the Babad Tanah Jawa
(Chronicles of the Land of Java), written in the mid-1600s.